SC Alaska News

U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Vice Chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, introduced S.4370, the Tribal Forest Protection Act Amendments Act of 2024, aimed at enhancing indigenous stewardship of Federal and Indian forest and rangelands. The original 2004 TFPA law was designed to protect Indian forest lands from threats such as wildfires by allowing Tribes to enter agreements with the Forest Service or the Bureau of Land Management for forest management activities on federal lands "bordering or adjacent to" tribal lands.

However, this requirement has been seen as too restrictive, failing to encompass sites and cultural landscapes valuable to Native peoples that are not directly adjacent to tribal land. Additionally, Alaska Native Corporations, which received over 44 million acres from the federal government, have been excluded from participating in the TFPA program due to these limitations.

Senator Murkowski’s legislation aims to address these issues by expanding the language of the original law. “The TFPA was meant to empower Tribes... But the law was so narrowly written it excluded Alaska from fully participating,” said Senator Murkowski. “It is time Alaska Tribes and Native Corporations have the opportunity to protect land and resources important to them... regardless of whether those lands are in trust status or not or border a federal forest or rangeland.”

Joe Nelson, Sealaska Chairman, expressed support for the amendments: “Sealaska maintained title to a tiny fraction of our aboriginal territory, but our relationship with the entirety of the Tongass is ancient.” He praised Senator Murkowski’s understanding and advocacy for Aas Kwáani (the tree people).

Cole Miller (Chairman, Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community) and Kari Jo Lawrence (CEO, Intertribal Agriculture Council), Co-Chairs of the Native Farm Bill Coalition, also endorsed the proposed changes. They stated that Sen. Murkowski’s amendments would ensure that TFPA extends to Alaska Native lands and remove barriers undermining its intent.

The TFPA was originally enacted in 2004 as a companion bill to the Healthy Forest Restoration Act and amended in 2018 through the Agriculture Improvement Act. The new amendments were crafted based on feedback from Alaska Native leaders during hearings led by the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs.

The bill seeks not only to improve forest health but also promote economic development within tribal communities through sustainable forest management practices.